College Initiatives and Programshttp://hdl.handle.net/10166/37562019-02-22T15:21:20Z2019-02-22T15:21:20ZGeomedia, Mining, and Mobility Justice: The Matter of Cloud Computing and BitcoinSheller, Mimihttp://hdl.handle.net/10166/48952018-12-07T17:59:53ZGeomedia, Mining, and Mobility Justice: The Matter of Cloud Computing and Bitcoin
Sheller, Mimi
Technology never operates on its own, but is always about how people use it, how we put things together and make them work. The “material turn” in media studies and mobilities research highlights the geopolitical and socioecological power relations behind technologies like cloud computing and cryptocurrencies. There is a transnational material and ecological basis for communication infrastructures and virtual media geographies which pose crucial problems of mobility justice. Every historical period involves specific assemblages of transport, logistics, communication, and energy infrastructures, from the coal-fired steam train to the caffeine-fueled WiFi café, along with the pollution and waste these systems leave behind: “the materiality of information technology starts from the soil, and underground” in metals such as cobalt and gallium, tantalum and germanium, bauxite and aluminum (Parikka 2012). This talk will introduce the new interdisciplinary fields of Mobilities Research and Geomedia Studies and reveal the politics of infrastructure through examples such as cloud computing, e-waste, and Bitcoin.
Mimi Sheller, Ph.D., is Professor of Sociology and founding Director of the Center for Mobilities Research and Policy at Drexel University in Philadelphia. She is founding co-editor of the journal Mobilities, Associate Editor of Transfers: Journal of Mobility Studies, and past President of the International Association for the History of Transport, Traffic and Mobility. She has been awarded Visiting Fellowships at the Davis Center for Historical Studies, Princeton University; Media@McGill, in Montreal, Canada; Center for Mobility and Urban Studies at Aalborg University, Denmark; and the Penn Humanities Forum. In 2016 she was inaugural Distinguished Visiting Scholar at the Center for Advanced Research in Global Communication at the Annenberg School of Communication, University of Pennsylvania.
Hoaxes, Memes & BotsDias, Nichttp://hdl.handle.net/10166/45462018-02-16T14:57:54ZHoaxes, Memes & Bots
Dias, Nic
In 2016 the world woke up to the severity of the polluted information environment. This lecture explained why we need to consider the whole spectrum of the misinformation ecosystem, what we learned from monitoring disinformation in the French, UK, and German elections, and why we have to stop using the term “fake news.” Most importantly, it included practical tips so you can make sure you don't get fooled by the hoaxes, misattributed, and manipulated content that surfaces online. Nic Dias is a senior research fellow at First Draft News, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting truth and trust on the internet. He has a background in computational journalism and social science. Nic's recent research interests include the use of bots to boost hyperpartisan perspectives, misinformation and disinformation on social media. In this avenue, he has studied the use of social bots to amplify misinformation in the United States, France, the United Kingdom and Germany -- particularly during elections. Other curiosities of his include the psychological principles dictating the correction of false beliefs.
DIY Cybersecurity: Solidarity Through TechnologyKelley, Noahhttp://hdl.handle.net/10166/40102017-01-11T21:05:32ZDIY Cybersecurity: Solidarity Through Technology
Kelley, Noah
Noah Kelley is creator of the DIY Guide to Feminist Cybersecurity and is the founder of HACK*BLOSSOM, an activist organization fighting for the safety and autonomy of marginalized users in digital spaces. In this talk, Noah explores how personal relationships to technology can cultivate a culture that values safety and autonomy in digital spaces, especially in respect to threats of political oppression and personal harassment, as well as how technology can inform both institutional and personal activism. He discusses the current legal and cultural issues surrounding privacy, how cybersecurity plays a role in the addressing those issues, and how cybersecurity can be a launching point for creating enduring and resilient communities over the next few years.
Note: There are two versions of this video available here. The first provides closed captioning, the second does not. A text transcript of the presentation is also available for download.
MPIC Survey Final ReportAuguste, Elizabethhttp://hdl.handle.net/10166/36502016-05-31T17:34:17Z0006-01-01T00:00:00ZMPIC Survey Final Report
Auguste, Elizabeth
In 2010, the Master Plan Implementation Committee developed a nine-section trajectory for the development of South Hadley, MA. Inspired by the vision of the 2010 Master Plan conducted in 2015, a survey was developed in order to assess the needs of the community and to see how it has developed since then. Residents expressed their opinions regarding residency, housing, transportation, education, land use and community design, waste management and recycling, community services within and outside of the town, recreational activities and open spaces, community information and involvement, and additional topics. Analyses of the data regarding the status and development of South Hadley are discussed.
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